CELTIC face a fight with Scottish league bosses to lock out Ibrox fans from Parkhead for the New Year fixture on January 2.
The Govan club’s hierarchy could ask the SPFL for assistance to get a presence from their supporters into the ground after the hosts announced away followers would not be allowed for the derby encounter.
Hoops fans, of course, were shut out of Ibrox for the first meeting between the clubs in August when a late u-turn denied tickets to the Parkhead side, despite initial talks proposing 700 away supporters to witness Ange Postecoglou’s first match in this fixture.
Covid regulations regarding red zones in stadiums meant there was no rules breach on that occasion.
However, with such legal requirements scrapped last month, it opens the way for the Ibrox side to turn to SPFL chiefs to challenge Celtic’s decision to impose a lock-out in their own stadium, according to a report in the Daily Record.
League rules state that home clubs “must make provision for the admission of such reasonable number of visiting supporters for every league match”. Any visiting club unhappy with an allocation of tickets can seek a league ruling.
Livingston were backed by a small support at the goalless draw in the east end of Glasgow on Saturday.
Celtic’s decision for a home only crowd in the first game of 2022 was made public following a fans’ forum Q&A with Parkhead bosses including acting chief executive Michael Nicholson.
The Glasgow clubs have been warring over the issue in recent times after the Hoops’ quota for Ibrox took a drop of 6,000 to just 800 in 2018.
The Parkhead club responded by only issuing 800 away tickets for travelling supporters in September 2018 with the management insisting it was “not a development we welcome”.
Away numbers have never returned to normal and were reduced to zero for Ibrox in this campaign.
